I think some people are afraid of their blood glucose meters.  I think that fear needs to be eliminated because it makes diabetes too big and powerful—you have given it permission to dictate your emotions.

If you were trying to lose weight, you would emotionally not fare as well by stepping on the scale every day as you would by stepping on it only once a week.

Yet blood glucose readings need to be taken several times a day, without fail.

The more we can do to minimize emotions with the task, the better off we will be when it comes to the emotional side of life with diabetes.

So try this on for size.  You can do it with someone else in the room or not—you can say it under your breath.  But speak loud enough that YOU CAN HEAR YOURSELF say it.  Heck, you can be in a closet in the dark for all it matters—you just need to be able to read the screen.

Start the sentence when your meter has 2 seconds left.  That way you’ll have already started before any BG number appears on the screen and you’ll be more likely to finish the sentence.

It has two parts.  Each recognizes the PURPOSE behind checking blood glucose levels.  You need to (a) know the reading because it (b) helps you decide what to do next.

So, with 2 seconds left before the meter is finished, start saying MY METER SAYS MY BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL IS [fill in the reading].  THAT MEANS I NEED TO [complete the sentence].

For example, when I got back from my run yesterday I checked and said aloud: My meter says my blood glucose is 158.  That
means I need to enter the number into my pump and have the bolus wizard tell me if I need to bolus to bring down the number.

It’s kind of funky to hear it out loud.  But very good training for keeping things in perspective about why we do what we do when it comes to blood glucose management.

Rock on.

I really really don’t want this one to sound preachy.  So if it feels that way
to you, please accept my apologies.  I just really believe in this one.

I think one of the most important ways we can improve our lives with diabetes (type one or type two or one of the other four unnumbered types) is by taking charge of our medical care.

From the mental side of things to the physical side, there are about three kazillion things we think about all day and night every day when we live with diabetes.

So why do we allow things we CAN do something about to languish and fester and eat at us?  One thing I try and do all the time is to identify my biggest stressor and do what I can to get rid of it.

If that includes my medical care, you can bet I’m going to make some changes. It is so much easier to fix something like that than it is to work to lower my A1c it just makes sense to do the easy stuff first.

Deal With Your Doctor/CDE Situation

If you feel your doctor or CDE is judging you, there are hundreds of other doctors out there who might not.  Check with your insurance, Yelp the covered people, ask around.  Find someone you can be comfortable with most of the time. 

If you are incredibly anxious when you have an upcoming appointment, when you next see your doctor or CDE, tell them that.  Talk about how it feels for you to sit there for an hour and nitpick what you’ve done every day for the past few weeks.  Maybe they need a wakeup call, too, about what it’s like.

If you aren’t sure why your doctor is suggesting a treatment or drug or avoiding it with you, find out why they are making the choices they make for your body.

Heck, they ask us why we go high and low and what we eat and yaddah yah; it’s perfectly appropriate for YOU to ask THEM why they are doing something with your health.

It’s a responsibility you have when you inhabit your body: you need to know what’s going on when someone else is making changes (or not). 

The thing about living with diabetes: you are the expert on YOUR BODY and YOUR DISEASE.  Sure, they went to medical school and see a
lot of people with diabetes and they know a lot about the science involved… but the one thing they don’t know is one of the most crucial when it comes to life with diabetes: they don’t know YOUR body
like you do (from the inside!).

And that’s as it should be: if it were something simple enough like a broken bone, you’d see them, they’d fix it, and you’d go on your way.  But
with diabetes, there isn’t anything you can point to.  It involves a lot more communication and a lot more thought and a lot more trial and error.

So if your medical team isn’t up to snuff, take charge. 

You owe it to yourself.

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you probably know I don’t hold back when it comes to sharing my opinion on nearly anything.

(We all have them, what’s the big deal with sharing them? If you wanted all Technicolor rainbows and butterflies you’d probably be picnicking in a meadow anyway, instead of reading this.)

But here’s the thing.

I think it should be considered medical malpractice for a general or internal medicine doctor to diagnose and/or medicate someone with diabetes.

It simply happens too often. I’ve heard too many stories (that I consider horror stories) of a GP or IM diagnosing a patient with type 2 diabetes and prescribing whatever popular drug and both doctor and patient carrying on without further changes or appointments.

ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME.???

Diabetes requires accurate diagnosis. It requires a knowledgeable prescriber and correct dosage and medication.

Heck, for a lot of people, it requires a hospital stay.

And everyone needs fantastic education, guidance, and support.

So what are they teaching these doctors in medical school and reinforcing in the medical community?? That diabetes is a “try this drug and come back in three months” kind of disease?!

The whole thing simply frightens me.

It frightens me because I hear about people who were incorrectly diagnosed as type 2 who, upon seeing an endocrinologist after months or years with deteriorating health, are correctly diagnosed with LADA, MODY, or in some cases, type 1 diabetes.

If you live with diabetes of any kind, you know what it takes to manage the disease. You know how intricate the work can be, and how helpful (and not as helpful) doctors can be when it comes to the ways in which you need their help.

So when I see these stories it amazes me that there are so many general practitioners who think they can diagnose and treat a patient’s diabetes without help from an endocrinologist.

It concerns me what they do with other diagnoses. I can’t see them thinking they can diagnose and treat cancer—or at least I HOPE they don’t.

Let me assure anyone who has been treated exclusively by their general doctor for diabetes: you need an expert’s help with this disease. You can’t get it online; you can’t find what you need in the Diabetes Online Community. You can’t find it on WebMD or from a friend.

You need to do this TODAY. Start by making a phone call. This is your health and no one cares about it in the same way as you care.

But you need to take charge. You need to make sure you understand enough about the disease to evaluate whether your diagnosis feels correct. If it doesn’t, make another phone call, get another lab test, see another expert.

YOU AND YOUR HEALTH ARE WORTH IT.

No matter what your general doctor might say.

Watching some of the “You Can Do This” videos this morning, someone said “diabetes isn’t going to get the best of me.”

And, although I understood what they meant, when I heard him say that I thought: MINE WILL.

I deserve my diabetes receiving the best of me as often as I can.

My best effort.

My best enthusiasm.

My best intelligence.

My best patience.

My best forgiveness.

My best discipline.

My best physical body.

The best technological tools.

The best medical professionals.

The best insulin for my body.

The best understanding and supportive friends.

My diabetes deserves MY BEST EFFORT.  It deserves that because I deserve that.

Doesn’t yours?

If you are concerned that you aren’t giving your diabetes the best you deserve, reach out and ask for help.  I’m here; and you are not alone with this.

Living life with type one or type two diabetes requires a lot of work.  It’s amazing how we all deal so differently with that workload.

Some people stay in denial and don’t do a thing: don’t take their medication, don’t change their habits after diagnosis, do precisely what they know is damaging to their bodies, or fight every day to not acknowledge what living with diabetes takes.

Some people immediately take their doctor’s instructions to heart, learn all there is to learn, do everything precisely “right” and are probably their doctor’s star patient.

Some people learn quickly that routine is their best friend, and never vary from day to day: breakfast is food X, drink Y at time Z with insulin A at the same time every day.  Any variance is a threat.

Some people think “I just have to do this until…” and some people think “I will be able to get off medication” and some people think “It’s no big deal.”

Some people change everything.  Some change nothing.

Some people fight for their child: 504 plans, Americans with Disabilities ride passes at Disneyland, attendance at every JDRF event imaginable: Let’s Get Rid of This Horrible Disease.

Some people participate in clinical trials, some people see a physician once a year to get their insulin prescription renewed. 

Some people live with diabetes, others are diabetics, some are persons with diabetes.  Some are patients, some are advocates.

Some people tell everyone.  Some people tell no one.

Some people see their diabetes as the hardest thing they’ve ever dealt with.  Some people struggle every day.

Some people ask “why me?” Some people don’t care.  Some only ask in the dark.

Some people won’t go to the grocery store without their meter.  Some people don’t know where their meter is right now.

Some people can recite their past three years’ of A1cs.  Some couldn’t tell you what the last one was, nor when it was taken.

Some people make charts and graphs.  Some people don’t.

Some people go by how they feel.  Some people can’t recognize a low.

Some people love their doctor.  Some love their Diabetes Educator.  Some can’t stand any part of a medical visit.

There are of course a lot of extremes and most of us probably wander between the extremes through the years of life with diabetes.  Certain times of our lives will prompt greater focus on our disease, and some periods will necessitate greater distance in favor of a different focus.

It’s always there, always a part of us, no matter what we do.

It’s our diabetes.